IT IS FINISHED

IT IS FINISHED

 

These were the words uttered by Jesus as He hung on the cross on mount Calvary so many years ago. What exactly did He mean by these last recorded words, as He yielded up the Spirit that had been with Him since His baptism in the river Jordan over 3 years before? This is a key question in my opinion, especially in this "post-modern" age we are living in. It seems to be very difficult to completely finish a certain task, to the place where we can say without hesitation, "it is finished"! At least that has been true in my life's journey. Jesus was able to say to His Father in prayer as recorded in (John 17:4) "I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do." This work He referred to was undoubtedly the task of redeeming, or buying back the whole creation, including fallen mankind. In other words "reversing the curse", brought on creation by the first Adam, the curse of sin! In order to accomplish this He had to be a perfect man, as Adam was when God created him. (Gen 1: 26-28). Jesus is called the "last Adam" (1 Cor 15:45) and became the only one ever to exist who was qualified to perform this task. That is how He could boldly declare "it is finished" just before He died on the cross.

 

People living in this post modern age do not believe the Bible is the living and accurate written Word of God. Their motto is "there are no absolutes!" Without a belief in God the Creator of the entire universe, who gave us His "Manufacturer's Handbook" (the Bible) to tell us how we should live, its true everyone could do as they please. But any person in their right mind, using the "common sense" given them by God, can easily see that this creation needed a Creator! Even a casual reading of the first few chapters of the letter Paul wrote to the church in Rome, should confirm this. Paul was a man with a brilliant mind, who was part of the Pharisees, the most religious party in the Jewish culture of the day. After he met Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-20), he was a completely changed man, and was used by God to write much of the NT scriptures. He is a good example to us as present day followers of Jesus. Even in the last part of his life, he was still "pressing on", and declared in (Phil 3:12-16) that he had not yet arrived at the level of perfection he knew God had called him to attain. So let us take encouragement from Paul to press on toward the mark, which is to become fully mature "sons of God" (Rom 8:18-25) that can help to deliver all creation from the curse it is presently under!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer